Men are more likely to be involved in a fatal distracted driving incident

Men are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal distracted driving accident compared to women, according to online driver education resource Zutobi.

Of the 2,906 fatal distracted driving accidents that occurred in 2020, men were involved in 2,125, Zutobi reported.

There has been an average of 265,000-295,000 distracted driving crashes resulting in an injury each year since 2015, according to Zutobi.  However, 2020 did see a drop in the number of distracted driving crashes with 215,000 occurring during the year.

“Traffic deaths have surged in many areas. The major causes of road accidents are due to driver errors. For example, drunk driving fatalities have not been this high in over a decade. Distracted driving, however, shows a glimmer of hope,” Leo Waldenback, co-founder of Zutobi, said in a release.

Unsurprisingly, cell phones serve as the biggest distraction for drivers. Around 13% of fatal distracted driving accidents can be attributed to mobile phones, while 8% of crashes with injuries can be attributed to cell phones.

Zutobi reported that talking on a mobile phone while driving increases crash risk by two times, while texting increases the risk six fold. Texting while driving takes an average of five seconds, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which reported a car going 55 mph can travel the length of a football field in that timeframe.

In addition to cell phones, other major distractions drivers face, according to the NHTSA, include:

• Reaching for moving objects
• Looking at external objects
• Reading
• Applying makeup
• Eating
• Passengers in the vehicle

Related:

• Traffic fatalities reached a 16-year high in 2021
• These stats highlight the U.S. traffic-fatality problem
• Top 10 states for distracted-driving fatalities